Memory of a Classmate
by Chison
Summary: AU. Haru becomes stuck in the Cat Kingdom, The Baron falls into depression at this loss, however there is a boy from Haru's class who remembers her. What will this mean for the Cat Bureau? Will Haru be rescued?
1. School Day

1School Day

A The Cat Returns fan fiction

By:

Chison

"Hey Neku! What are you doing after school today?" A classmate came to him at lunch time, hunched over Neku's lunch. "huh? After school?" He took a moment to think it over, "Uh…I don't think I'm doing much…why?" The male classmate smiled, "all right. Here is the deal, I'm taking my girl to a baseball game right after class, and its my turn for clean-up." he said, clasping his hands together, "so will you do it Neku?" He thought about it for a moment then nodded his head, a small grin on his face, "uh…sure. I don't have anything going on at all…" Giving Neku a friendly punch to the left shoulder, the friend left with a big smile on his face and returned back to his seat, quietly finishing his lunch.

Sitting in class listening to the teacher drone on about formulas, Neku's mind wandered, he looked over towards the empty desk, _"I wonder where Haru is…I haven't seen her sneak into class for a week now…"_ "Mr. Watanabe, is there a reason why you are spacing out in my class?" The professor asked, glaring at Neku, "Uh…" He snapped out of his train of thought, "No! I'm sorry for not paying attention…" The teacher narrowed his eyes, "good…now we will resume on page 298, everyone please follow along in your text books, you will be tested on this material…" Neku tuned out the teacher again, and looked out the window, following the birds flying outside.

Hearing the final bell ring, Neku started to gather his things when his classmate patted him on the back, "remember you said you would take my spot for the classroom clean up…" Neku stopped, and nodded, placing his bag on the floor, he started moving the desks into the corner, stacking them on top of each other and quietly grabbed a mop bucket; filled it with soap water and started moping up the room. "Hey…" Neku started, his other class mates turned to him, "do you remember that girl that would sneak into class sometimes?" They looked at each other in confusion, "nope…I don't remember anyone like that…It would be pretty funny if someone did though…" Neku heard the slight laughter from his classmates and sighed. _"I wonder if its just me who remembers her…"_ Neku finished his duties, and left the class room an hour and a half after the last bell sounded. Wandering down the street, he watched people going about their duties and errands, his mind started to wander, thinking about Haru. _"If I'm the only one who remembers her…then maybe there is something wrong with me…"_ Coming to a busy intersection, he stopped and pushed the button and waited for the light to change, _"I know her first name…but what about her last name?… What was it? Yoshiuka? Yashinoko?" _The light changed and he hurried across the road, his home just a few more blocks. Neku sighed as he walked, making his way home; coming to the door he fished his keys from his pocket he unlocked the door and let himself in. "Hello?" his voice echoed through the small two bedroom house, Neku wandered towards the kitchen, finding a note on the table: Honey, I won't be home until late tonight, left some leftovers in the fridge. Love Mom. Neku sighed and placed the note on the table and set his book bag on the ground and trudged upstairs towards his room.

Flopping himself onto the bed, he turned to his left to see a small mirror, his brown eyes matched his naturally spiky brown hair. Neku was a little short for his age group, although it irritated him somewhat, he didn't let it bother him, he was dressed in his school colors, a simple white shirt with a blue tie and a black pair of pants. _"Haru has always been in class with us…"_ With that, Neku's eyes lit up and he began to search frantically in his room for a misplaced yearbook from the previous year. After ten minutes of solid searching, he finally found it; and began to flip through its pages, looking for Haru. "Where is she?" he asked himself, looking through page after page when her face caught his eye, he placed his pointer finger on her picture and read the caption, _"Yoshioka, Haru…wow…" _Neku thought for a moment, "_she's…pretty."_ He looked at the picture, Haru having short, brown hair and brown eyes to match, dressed in same uniform. "All right…tomorrow is Saturday, I can go to her house and see if she is there…" Neku said aloud and closed the book, and laid it down on the floor and fell asleep.

* * *

MUHA! I am over my Writers Block! I just had to start another story to get my juices going, but now that I'm back, my stories are going to be updated! 


	2. On the Trail

On the Trail

A The Cat Returns fan fiction

By:

Chison

Hearing the buzzing of the alarm clock, Neku groaned, and lazily flopped his arm in the general direction of the sound, hoping to hit the snooze button. However, he missed and the buzzing continued, "All right…I'm awake…you can stop now…" He sleepily said, opening his eyes and turning off the clock, and looking at the time: 7:30AM. Neku yawned, _"Its too early…especially for a Saturday…"_ he thought as his head hit the pillow again, however within 5 minutes he shot straight up in his bed, _"Oh! Right! There is a reason why I'm up this early! I've got to find where Haru lives!" _ Neku threw his covers off and grabbed his towel hanging from his door and showered. Coming back to his room, he lifted a few of the blinds blocking the sunlight, seeing clear skies "Hm…it looks like its going to be hot outside today…I better wear something light…" He said to himself and picked out a simple green shirt with a pair of beige, cargo shorts. Going back to the bathroom he brushed his teeth and tried to comb his hair downward, but it kept spiking in different directions, and gave up and wandered downstairs.

"Oh hi honey." Neku's mother was sitting at the table with breakfast laid out in front of her. He grabbed a few pieces of toast and walked towards the front door and grabbed his shoes and sat down on the small love seat, and started to put them on, "where are you headed this early on a Saturday?" his mother questioned, and Neku got up from the chair and looked at her, "well…there is this girl…" A small fit of laughter erupted from his mother and she gave a warming smile, "all right. I understand, don't make her wait." Neku couldn't help but smile as he finished his last piece of toast and headed out the door. Walking down the street, he looked around for a postman, _"A postman would know where she lives…" _Neku wandered past the intersection and finally found a postman and rushed towards him, "HEY!" He shouted trying to get his attention, and he stopped to look at Neku, "well what can I do for you youngster?" The older man asked Neku, who took a moment to catch his breath and finally he said, "I need to know where the Yoshiokas' live…" The letter carrier put his hand to his chin in thought and thought aloud, "well…I have two of them on my route…here, let me write down their block number and building numbers…" he looked on his person for a pen and paper and finally found some, and wrote down the directions for Neku.

"Thank you!" Neku shouted as the mailman left on his way and Neku also started in the direction of the block, however he stopped looking at the sheet of paper. "Block number 104, building number 89..." Quickly looking to a nearby building he saw the block number: 110. "Ok…then Haru's house must be down six blocks…" Neku thought aloud and started making his way south, waiting for the busy intersections as he went, finally reaching the right block, he looked at the sheet of paper again. _"All right I'm at block 104...now I just need to find 89..." _with that he started to his right, looking at the houses to his left and right, all the way to the end of the street and he started to back-track when he stopped. He looked at the sheet of paper and the building number. _"all right! They match…I wonder if Haru is home…"_ Neku slowly wandered to the front door and rang the doorbell. A clicking sound came from inside the door and a elderly man opened the door, "hello young man…how can I help you?" he asked, Neku swallowed the lump in his throat, "uh…Is Haru home?" The man raised a brow and said, "Haru?…Nope I've never heard that name before… Maybe your looking for the other Yoshioka…she lives just across the street…I used to get a few young people coming to my door looking for her…" Neku turned to see the small house across the street and turned back to the elderly man, "thank you sir." he said with a bow and turned and left across the street.

Neku came to the front door and rang the bell. He waited patiently when he heard the clicking of a lock and a woman in her mid 30s answered the door, "hello, I don't mean to be rude but I'm rather busy…what do you want?" He swallowed another lump in his throat, "Is…Haru home?" The woman's eyes lit up for a moment, "Haru?" then emptiness filled her eyes, "no…I don't remember very well…" Neku became excited, "wait…remember?" She nodded, "yes…I know there was a Haru living here…but the only thing that comes to mind is the Crossroads…" Neku raised a brow, "the Crossroads? All right…thank you." with that, she shut the door and Neku wandered down the street towards the Crossroads. _"Hm…the last place Haru's mom remembers…was that Haru was at the Crossroads?"_ Thinking to himself, he suddenly found himself at the Crossroads, it was filled with people, lots of tables and chairs and lined with shops and restaurants. Neku looked at the different shops and finally sat down on one of the white chairs and looked around, trying to spot Haru. _"man… Looking for one person in this place is like looking for a needle in a haystack…" _Neku thought to himself when he heard an unfamiliar voice call to him, "You must find the white cat…you must find the Cat Bureau, you've got to save Haru…" Neku jumped to his feet, looking around for the voice, "hey…who said that?" he said to himself and scanned the area, _"well…who ever talked to me is gone…I wonder what it meant by the white cat…"_ Neku thought to himself and surprised himself when he saw the largest cat he had ever seen. _"wow…I've never seen a cat that big before…wait!"_ he leaned closer to the cat, "hey… are you the white cat?" He whispered, and right after he smacked his forehead, "of course you're a white cat…" he said aloud, then leaned closer to the cat again, "do you know where the Cat Bureau is?" With that, the cat turned his head to Neku, and looked at him with a set of narrowed eyes, however Neku moved back to his chair, _"man…I can't believe I'm talking to a cat…"_ He thought as his eyes wandered the Crossroads when he heard a deep voice coming from right close, "Yeah I'm a white cat, and I know where the Bureau is…" This made Neku look around for the voice when he realized it came from the cat, who had already jumped from the chair and started running. "HEY! WAIT!" Neku shouted, giving chase to the cat.


	3. The Cat Bureau

-1The Cat Bureau

A The Cat Returns fan fiction

By:

Chison

Following the cat past the tables and chairs; Neku watched as it quickly crossed the road and almost ran after, but a car that he did not see whizzed past him, only a few feet away. The driver pounded on his horn, "Sorry!" Neku shouted, catching his breath after his encounter, and he proceeded to chase after the cat. Following it into a back alley, Neku squeezed in-between the buildings and watched as the cat effortlessly made its way through. _"man…how can a cat that big move so fast?"_ Neku thought to himself as he climbed on top of the platforms, and running through the alleyway which dropped off onto a metal roof; Neku made the leap onto the roof and continued to chase the cat. After landing from the roof, the cat took another turn into an alleyway "how far does this go?" Neku quietly said to himself chasing the cat, but was not paying attention to where he was going and almost knocked over a pedestrian trying to get into the same alley, "Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" he shouted, and continued on, until the spaces began to become wider, and the cat was slowing down.

Passing through a narrow corridor, Neku came to the exit and saw something he had never seen before: the cat had climbed up on its hind legs and was walking away from him. _"What's going on?"_ Neku thought to himself as he wandered into the cobblestone street and towards the archway, which he passed easily under, and took a moment to look around; there were old Victorian houses painted every color, and the cat walked to a green house furthest from him and opened the red mail box, retrieving the paper from inside. "Uh…excuse me…" Neku started, and the cat turned to him, "I don't know how much help Baron will be… but you're at the Cat Bureau." Confusion washed over Neku's face, "I'm at the Cat Bureau?" Looking around again, "but all I see are small houses…I thought there would be…" The cat cut him off, "like what, a real building with detectives running around?" He shrugged his shoulders, "yeah…something like that…" The cat simply laughed and flopped into a small chair, "well…I don't think the Baron wants to help anyone right now…" "Muta, you know the Baron will always assist anyone who needs his help…" a voice came from above Neku, who turned to see a Raven. "Hello, my name is Toto, despite what Muta says, you can ask the Baron for help…" Suddenly, the lamp post for the green house lit up, along with the rest of the inside lights, and the double doors opened to present a figurine.

It moved from the doorway, using a flicking motion with this right hand, and Neku followed the figurine into the small house, and then looked at the cat sitting behind a desk. The cat wore a white top hat with a matching tux along with a blue bowtie and a maroon vest underneath. "are you…Baron?" Neku quietly asked, causing the cat to lift his head, "yes. I am Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, the person who created me gave me that name…" Neku nodded and watched as Baron rose from his chair and towards the cupboard, and fetched a teapot and matching tea cup and poured himself some and sat back down, "you must be here for some reason or another…" This took Neku by surprise, "uh, yeah…I think I may be crazy, because I keep on remembering a person who only I remember…not even her mother knows her…" Baron simply stirred the sugar in his tea, "forgive me for saying such, but I fear you may be in need of mental help…" Neku shook his head and leaned forward, "No! I know she is still here…maybe you know her…her name is Haru." Baron abruptly stopped stirring his tea and looked up at Neku, "you… Remember her?" he simply nodded, this caused Baron to rise from the chair and begin to pace around the room, "You remember Haru? My, my, the possibility this presents is surreal. I must know…" he walked towards Neku, holding out the spoon in front of him, "what are your feelings for Haru?"

He thought about it for a while, and Neku's face flushed with red, "well…I…" Baron smiled, "its all right. Don't be afraid of your feelings." He nodded, "I like Haru more than a class mate…when I saw her picture from my yearbook…it was nice…like I could look at it forever…" Baron suddenly clasped his hands together and walked towards a coat hanger and plucked his cane from it and walked outside. "All right…I am sorry I did not catch your name when you entered…" Baron said, looking back at Neku, who nodded, "its all right. My name is Neku Watanabe…" Baron nodded and turned to Muta, "Do you feel like taking a trip back to the Cat Kingdom Muta?" This perked his ears and he turned on his chair to look at Baron, "Baron, is it safe to take Neku there?" Toto asked, tilting and leaning his head, this caused Muta to rise out of this chair and throw the paper down on the seat behind him, "how do we know the same thing that happened to Haru happen to this kid?" Neku's face flashed with anger, "hey! I'm not a kid, I'm 15." Suddenly, Toto flew through the sky, scraping his claws on Muta, "Muta! Where are your manners! He is a guest here…" "Oh yeah! Well come back and tell me that to my face, you bird-brain!" Muta instantly shot back, shaking his fist in the air, while Toto dive-bombed Muta again, "Can't you come up with anything else other than bird-brain?" He tried to dodge but it was no use, "AHH! Come back so I can rip you to shreds with my own claws you bird-brain!" Toto rolled his eyes, "you already called me that you fat pig!"

"Please don't pay any attention to them… Its just one of their little squabbles. Now…we need a way into the Cat Kingdom so that we can rescue Haru…" Baron said, putting a hand to his chin in thought then looked to Muta and Toto battling, then walked towards Muta, "We need a way into the Cat Kingdom, Muta can you find a way?" He stopped and turned to Baron, "Getting there is not the problem…remember its getting out that stumped us…"


	4. Perparations

Preparations

A Cat Returns fanfic

By:

Chison

Baron looked away, lost in thought about their last trip to the Cat Kingdom. "Baron?" Toto asked, trying to get his attention, "Hm? What?" Baron said, looking between Toto and Muta. "Ah, right…Muta," turning to him, "you're certain you can get us to the Cat Kingdom?" All he did was nod and Baron turned back to Neku, "If we go to the Cat Kingdom, there is a slim chance that you will not return to your world." Neku looked down at Baron, "what do you mean 'not return'?" Baron turned away from the group and took a few steps away. Suddenly, Toto flew and sat on Neku's shoulders, "the last time Baron went into the Cat Kingdom was to stop Haru's marriage to the prince of the Kingdom; but he was not able to bring her back and she became…" "Enough Toto…" Baron said in a low voice, and turned back to everyone, "Neku will find out what happened to her, but you must promise me one thing." Neku's eyes went large, "what?" Baron closed his eyes, "no matter what happens…" then opening them, "promise me that you never forget Haru."

This confused Neku for a moment, then flashed a smile, "Don't worry Baron, I couldn't forget her…" Baron nodded and turned to Muta. "All right Muta, we are relying on your sense of direction, can you do it?" A scowl appeared on Muta's face, "of course I can, you know I used to live there for crying out loud." With that, they started to follow Muta who fell to all four feet and took off running, down the archway, going past the small hoses. Neku had to jog to keep up with Muta, _"holy cow…for such a big cat, he can really move…" _he thought to himself as he saw Toto, with Baron as a passenger fly past him, and up into the air. "Baron…do you really think Neku can do it?" Toto whispered to him, he looked down to Neku, and sighed deeply, "he is our last chance…I have faith in him." Suddenly, Muta turned left, causing Neku to almost trip onto this side, but he quickly slid on his shoes to avoid the fall and kept after the white cat. "I'm worried…" Baron silently watched Neku run after Muta, _"Truth be told…I am worried as well…"_ he thought to himself as the scenery slowly changed from the miniature world to Neku's.

"Hey kid, how are you holding up?" Muta asked, looking over his shoulder; Neku flashed a smile, "I'm all right," however he was breathing hard and his face was beat red. "its only a little more then we will be there." The cat responded, passing through a park, they came to a lake where Muta stopped; and looked to the sky for Toto and Baron, "This is the place! Good work Muta!" Baron shouted from the sky and Toto began to descend back to the ground. Baron jumped off Toto and walked towards the waters edge, "under this lake…lies the Kingdom of Cats…" turning to Neku, "this is the absolute last chance to change your mind…" Neku shook his head and his eyes flashed with determination, "no way." The trio waded out into the water and floated for a moment, "we need to swim underwater for a ways, but it will lead us right to it." Baron said, and with that, they started to swim towards the bottom; the water getting colder as they went, but suddenly Neku fell through a void, filled with darkness. _"Is…is this the end?" _he thought to himself, but as he fell, he saw a brilliant light and he was falling towards it.

Suddenly, he was back in water, with light pouring in, lighting the small pond, he quickly made his way to the surface and gasped for air as soon as his head hit the top. "Baron? Muta?" he said, looking around the water, but could not find them. Neku swam to the shore, expecting to see both of them waiting, but they were nowhere to be found. "BARON! MUTA!" he shouted again, cupping his hands around his mouth to extend his voice, but there was no response. Noticing the landscape extending towards the sky, he followed it to find that he himself was standing seemingly in the sky. "What…" Neku questioned looking at the little houses tucked into the hills to his upper right. He started walking and noticed that the entire world seemed to 'roll'. The houses how came to eye level, and he saw a multitude of cats wandering in and out of their homes meowing to each other. "Look at that…cats in houses…" he said to himself as he continued to walk. Coming to a large castle, with small spheres floating around, Neku slowed his pace as the spheres came closer to him, but suddenly they opened; revealing a cat's eye inside.

"My king…it seems we have an intruder," a voice echoes into a large chamber, a cat with blue fur sits on a throne as his ear twitches, "show me…" he says, and a small television turns on, showing Neku walking towards the castle. "What should we do your Majesty?" Opening his eyes, one being blue, and the other red, he looked up from the television, the glare in his eyes, "detain him. Throw him in the dungeon."


	5. Cat Kingdom

Cat Kingdom

By:

Chison

"Muta!" Baron shouted, looking around frantically, "MUTA!" his voice echoed again, and he finally swam to the shore and surveyed the water, and finally saw him getting out on the other side, "MUTA! Where is Neku?" he cupped his hands around this mouth to help his voice travel over the water, Muta turned around and shrugged his shoulders. Baron pointed up to the castle and nodded, signaling that he was making his way here, _"I hope that Neku is all right, going to the Cat Kingdom is a real trial..."_ Walking along the lonely path, Baron's mind began to wander, thinking back to their previous adventure in the Cat Kingdom.

Going through the portal for the first time, encountering the guards, fighting the Cat King, and meeting the Prince, however something took his attention from this thoughts: a floating orb in the sky. Baron instantly remembered that it was a security mechanism for the castle and ran quickly behind a thick tree. After listening to the whirling dissipate, Baron slowly emerged from behind the tree and picked up his pace towards the castle, _"If they have spotted Neku, they will surly throw him in the dungeon..."_ coming to a small section of houses built into the hill, he wandered past them, as some of the residents took notice and quickly went back into their homes, peering through their windows; watching Baron's every move. Lifting his right hand to his top hat, he pulled it down slightly as he made his way to the towering castle before him.

Pointing to Neku, one of the cats clad in armor shouted,"DETAIN HIM!" _"aw, great. Just what I need..."_ he thought to himself as the other guards started closing in on him. _"The only fighting Ive ever done is in video games..."_ Neku started to panic, and turned to run the other way; however the image of Haru from the yearbook suddenly flashed in his mind. The guards came close but he turned around, smashing him in the face with his fist, _"Maybe I've never fought anyone before in my life...but I guess I learned it all from video games..."_ knocking him over, the other guard raised his sword, but the lot of them were barreled over by Muta. "Kid are you all right?" Muta turned to ask, he simply gave a nod, "all right, I got these guys, get in there and find Haru!" Nodding again, Neku took off through the guards, pushing them over and made his way inside the castle.

"HARU!" Neku shouted, looking around at the many stair cases that lead different ways, "You have come for Haru?" A deep voice echoed, "you do not understand, Haru wishes not to leave, you are wasting your time here. I suggest you leave." Neku looked around for the source, but could not find one and took a few more steps towards the center, "Who are you? Come out! Are you a...Man or a mouse!?" A chuckle came over the air, "Neither, I am a cat." Foot steps came from directly in front of Neku and he saw that it was indeed a cat, walking on two legs like Baron. "I am the King of Cats, Akinobu." He wore a gold, gem encrusted crown, and fine purple fur covered his body with his left eye being blue and the right being red, he wore a military outfit, which was white with gold trimming. Suddenly guards came marching from behind the prince, and drew their weapons, the prince suddenly raised his right hand, pointing towards Neku, "He has come to steal the princess! Detain him at all costs!" They raced past him but suddenly stopped in their tracks when the door burst behind Neku, "Kid! There you are! I thought you got Haru already?" Muta shouted, causing Neku to turn, "well I was on my way but..." he used his thumb to point behind himself to the group of guards. "Oh, I see, more work for me huh...You should really get used to fighting your own battles you know?" Neku nodded, a fire burning in his eyes and turned back to the group, "Where is Haru?" He asked the king, who started to chuckle, "tell me, why would Haru want to escape with someone like you?" Neku narrowed his eyes, "what do you mean 'someone like me'?" The king snapped his fingers and two cats came from the right of Neku moving a tall mirror, "take a look, I don't think she would want you in your state..."


End file.
